Forward into the Past
by sparky24
Summary: The Doctor and Rose come across a Demon on an alien planet in the future. The Doctor decides to get the help of a certain Slayer.
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place approximately 7 years before "April is the Cruelest Month. Post Seventh Season for Buffy, AU for Harry Potter after The Order of the Phoenix, the 10th Doctor (with a brief visit by the 9th Doctor).

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Harry Potter to J.K. Rowlings and Dr. Who to Russell and the BBC.

Forward into the Past

"Pack your bags my dear, we are going to Greece."

"Oh, you mean we're going to swim the English Channel?"

"No, No, Ancient Greece… Don't you see my dear, I've built the perfect time machine."

-From "Nick Danger-Third Eye" – by Firesign Theater

Visitors from Afar

Sarah was bored. Summer was drawing to a close and the prospect of school loomed on the horizon. Her friends were off on Holiday or visiting family, leaving her alone at her house in Kensington. Well, not quite alone. Although her father was away at school preparing for the upcoming school year, her brother and sister, along with her mum, were still at home. Normally, the house in Kensington would be enough to relieve any boredom, with its many secret passageways and hidden rooms, but her brother Robbie was caught playing with the swords in the Armory, thus incurring their Mum's wrath and thus placing exploration out of bounds. Sarah could have retreated to the Game room, but she didn't like fighting with her sibs over what movie to watch. She didn't care for the video games that her brother loved so much and Abby was much too young to play any games that Sarah would be interested in. So she sat on the window ledge in her room, watching the rain fall outside with the wind sweeping through the branches of the ancient oak. She supposed she could retreat to the music room and practice her piano lessons, but sitting in the window ledge was better, quieter. There really wasn't too much else she could do since she was still on a rather short leash due to the evil wizard who wanted to kidnap her during her summer holiday. She blamed Daddy for that one. After all, it was his enemies that tried to kidnap her not Mum's (and definitely not hers, since she really wasn't old enough to have enemies like that.) But Mum still kept her close (a bit of worrywart Mum is). So she sat there by the window, staring out at the rain, enjoying the rare quiet afternoon. This was soon broken by a rather loud thunderclap, which brought a squeak of protest from her kitten, Nostradamus. He jumped onto her lap and let out a rather pitiful mew. She looked down on him, while scratching the nape of his neck. "What are you afraid of?" She asked him with a snort. HHe looked up at her and let out another pitiful mew. She stroked his fur from the scruff of his neck down to his tail and sighed. "Don't worry, Mummy is a superhero. She'll protect all of us." The kitten, now safely ensconced in Sarah's lap, just purred.

Another flash of lightning and an extremely loud crack of thunder brought two more figures to her room. It was Robbie and Abby, her brother and sister, both looking more than a little pale. "What do you lot want?" Sarah asked coolly.

Robbie and Abby both looked at each as if to decide who would speak and nodded. Robbie spoke "We wanted to know if you would play with us."

Sarah raised an eyebrow "really?'

Her two siblings nodded in agreement, not willing to let their voices give them away.

"And it's not 'cause the storm scared you?" Sarah asked them.

They both shook their heads no, still standing in the doorway, waiting for their sister to come out. That is until the next thunderclap sent them both scurrying to the window to be near their older sister. Sarah smirked and pulled the kitten closer to her stomach as Abby reached out to pet the kitten. "Careful, Nostie is still a bit skittish." Sarah remarked as the kitten dug his claws in her lap.

"Sorry, I just wanted to pet him." Abby replied.

The kitten though, had other ideas. Squirming out of his mistress's lap, he darted over to her bed and burrowed himself under the blankets. The three children laughed at his antics. Suddenly, a different noise came from outside the window. A noise not at all connected with the storm, a whiney sort of noise that sounded almost like a siren. Three heads turned back to the window. Robbie squeezed in past his sister and pressed his nose against the glass. "It's a police box!" Robbie exclaimed. Then turning to his sister, asked her "Is it magical?"

"Is what magical?" Sarah asked, adjusting herself around Robbie and looking intently out the window herself.

"The police box, is it magical? It appeared out of thin air." Robbie asked his sister again.

"Can't be." Abby relied smugly.

Robbie and Sarah both turned on their youngest sibling. "Why can't it be?" Sarah asked Abby.

"'Cause the larms didn't go off." Abby shot back.

"That's alarms, Abby." Sarah corrected. Then she remembered how last week when their Uncle Ron came by after a quidditch match. He had Apparated just outside the house, close enough to set off the magic proximity alarms that Daddy had strengthened to protect the family against evil wizards and witches, waking the entire household. Needless to say, Daddy was quite upset with Uncle Ron that night. Sarah ears were still ringing from some of the choice words she heard that night. "No. Not magic. Something else altogether." Sarah replied thoughtfully.

Three faces peered keenly through the window, watching as the police box alit onto their front lawn. Their eyes widened further when two figures, a man and a woman, exited from the box and approached the front door of their house. "Who do you reckon that is?" Robbie asked Sarah.

"Dunno, never seen them before." Sarah replied.

The three children looked at each other and coming to a quick, silent agreement, rose from the sill, ran out of the room and raced down the stairs to answer the door before their mother did.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Pro from Dover**

Rose turned to the Doctor as he started up the TARDIS. "Why aren't you helping these people?"

"I am." He declared as he fiddled with the controls for the TARDIS.

"Looks to me like running away." Rose said petulantly. One of the things she admired about the Doctor was his willingness to help people out of a jam. But now, in the face of the monsters of Aplactex, they were running away.

"It may look like I'm running away but I am actually going to fetch help." The Doctor remarked.

"Help?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Yes, help. What, did you think me so vain that I can never ask for help?" The Doctor replied with obvious hurt in his voice.

"Well, no. It's just that I never seen you ask for help before." Rose answered back. Then after a while. "So, who are we going to see?"

"Mrs. Buffy Summers-Potter."

"What?" Rose sputtered out a laugh. "You're joking, right?"

"I most certainly am not. And I advise you not to make fun of her name. She's quite touchy about that."

"Still, a rather odd combination of California and English." Rose pointed out.

"Yes, well, I was just as surprised to find out she survived long enough to get married."

This last comment piqued Rose's curiosity even further. "Go on." Rose prompted, expecting the story that usually followed these statements.

"Well, her kind has a tendency to die rather young." The Doctor explained.

Rose frowned. "What do you mean her kind? Isn't she human?"

"Well of course she's human. Why wouldn't she be human?"

"But you said "her kind" like she was something different." Rose pointed out.

The Doctor was silent for a minute, adjusting the TARDIS controls. "It's her calling that makes her different. Stronger, faster, better senses, short life."

"She's a mutant?"

"No. She's a Slayer. Always a girl, usually very young, between 13 and 18, chosen to kill the things that go bump in the night. I've ran into a few in my travels."

Rose gave him a shocked look. "You're taking me to see a murderer!"

The Doctor glared at her. "No, not a murdered, a Slayer. She only kills monsters, like Vampires and such. She's what you would call a champion. Saved your planet a time or two."

Rose shook her head, thinking the Doctor had finally gone around the bend. Monsters, really. Something else occurred to her while she was trying to wrap her head around the idea of monsters. "Why are visiting her now and not in the past? I mean wouldn't it be better to recruit her in her prime?"

"Would you rather we visit her when she was guarding the Mouth of Hell?" The Doctor asked her sharply.

"Well, no." Rose replied sheepishly, "Though it might have been interesting."

"Trust me, it is better we approach her now. Much safer, for us at least." The Doctor returned to the controls of the TARDIS checking the coordinates one last time. "Aha, it seems that we're here. Take a look." He directed her attention to the screen in the TARDIS.

Rose stared at the screen for a long time. She recognized the house from when she was a little girl. It was the Dey mansion. "I know this place. It's the Dey house and it's supposed to be haunted."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow "Really?"

"Well that's what Mum used to tell me. We would sometimes pass this place on our Sunday walks and she would always tell me about the mysterious things going on in that house. It was always kind of scary, since no one lived there for over forty years." Rose explained.

"What type of strange things?" The Doctor inquired.

"Oh, the windows would move about, never in the same place twice. The lights always seem to be on at odd hours and did I mention no one living there for the past 40 years?"

"Well there is someone living there now." The Doctor replied. He was right, the place did look lived in now. There were some sports balls littered on the grass along with a small bicycle, although in the rain, Rose couldn't tell if it was for a boy or a girl. "Let's get our information and get back to help the Aplactexians." The Doctor continued, holding out his hand for Rose. She took it and together they opened the door to the TARDIS to leave but stopped at the edge of it because of the storm still raging outside.

"What now, Doctor?" Rose asked, looking at the rain and judging the distance to the front door. "I don't want to look like a drowned rat."

The Doctor frowned in thought, "I do believe I have an umbrella somewhere, I just have to remember where I put it." He turned abruptly and ran into the bowels of the TARDIS; Rose just stood there and waited. He came back a few minutes later with a full grin on his face, carrying a very large umbrella.

"Where did you get that?" Rose asked pointing to the umbrella.

"Oh, it's just a something that I used to have as a prop a few regenerations ago. At least it's not a scarf."

Rose just stared at him, then shook her head and held out her hand. "Are we off then?"

The Doctor grabbed her hand, opened the umbrella and walked out towards the front door, Rose by his side. Reaching the door, the Doctor allowed Rose to ring the doorbell. It was quickly answered by three small children, two girls and a boy. The oldest girl had auburn hair, green eyes and looked about 10 years old. The boy had blond hair and hazel eyes and was a few years younger than his sister. The youngest girl had messy black hair, green eyes and was wearing glasses, the only one of the three to do so.

The Doctor studied the children for a minute and then asked, "Hello is your mother home?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Opening the door to a new adventure**

"Hello, is your Mother home?"

It was a simple question really; anyone of them could answer it, but should they? The three children looked at each other and finally Sarah spoke. "Mum's home. She is upstairs giving" She paused, trying to find the right word, not really trusting these strangers at their door to what her Mum was really doing, "fencing lessons. She giving fencing lessons to Ranata." She smiled politely at the strangers giving herself an inner cheer on covering for Mum. Besides, she probably was helping Ranata with her fencing along with the rest of her fighting skills.

Rose looked over the children and back to the Doctor. Confusion played on her face. This so-called Champion, Slayer, whatever, was really just a fencing instructor as well as a Mum? The Doctor never said anything about her having children. But the Doctor seemed to be taking it in stride, as if expected nothing less. She watched him as he spoke to the children again.

"I see, is it possible for me to speak with her?"

Sarah watched them like a hawk. She didn't know these people and was very suspicious of them. She noticed Abby whispering something into Robbie's ear, causing Robbie to look at the male stranger with wide eyes. She was dieing to know what Abby said to Robbie but she would wait. She needed to act like she was in charge here. She asked the stranger in response. "What about?"

"A possible business matter concerning her." The Doctor replied.

Sarah persisted in trying to find out more. "Is she expecting you?"

The Doctor frowned "Well, no. Should she be?

Sarah stared up at him, trying to figure him out, and then turning to Abby saying "Abby, go fetch Mum. Tell her" she paused, and turned back to the strangers, who were getting wet despite their umbrella. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is my companion, Rose."

Abby took this moment to look at the strangers and the stared down the man. "You can't be the Doctor."

The Doctor looked down on the small child, with a smile. "Why not?"

"'Cause you're a boy. Everyone knows doctors are girls." She stated firmly. This earned her a poke from Robbie and a rather long, loud suffering sigh from Sarah.

"What? It's true." Abby protested.

"No, it's not." Sarah stated with her big sister authority, finally earning a reluctant acceptance from Abby. "Now go fetch Mum and tell her the Doctor and Rose are here to see her."

Abby left in a huff, stomping up the stairs to protest her being overruled.

Buffy was going through one last katana with Ranata when Abby burst into the room.

"Mummy, Mummy, come quick. There's someone at the door that wants to see you." She exclaimed excitedly, pulling on her Mother's sleeve. "He says he's a doctor but he can't be a doctor cause he's a boy and…"

Buffy bent down and put a finger to her daughter's lips, eliciting a giggle from Ranata, who was watching the scene unfold with amusement. "Whoa, dear, slow down Abby.

Her daughter let out a sigh of protestation. "But Mummy, I haven't even got to the monster part yet."

At the mention of monsters, Buffy's eyes flashed from amusement to dangerous. Ranata was surprised to see the quickness of the change in her mentor. "What type of monsters?" Buffy asked her daughter slowly and evenly, not wanting to scare her youngest daughter.

Abby shrugged "I dunno, he never said. I just figured cause he wanted to see you, monsters were involved."

Buffy relaxed again and smiled at her youngest daughter's perception. "So you just knew monsters were involved?"

Abby nodded "uh-huh."

"And you say he calls himself the Doctor?"

"Uh-huh. An' me and Robbie and Sarah saw his box appear. And then we saw him and girl come up to the house and…"

Buffy silenced her daughter again. The child must have learned to babble from her Aunt Willow since she could go sentences without a pause. If she were to let Abigail continue, Buffy would be upstairs forever. She smiled at her daughter "I think I know who it is. It's okay to have Sarah let them in. Also, go tell Dobby to get tea ready, it's only polite to offer tea to our guests." She shook her head, she had lived in England for too long now and tea had become second nature to her. Her mother must be laughing at her from Heaven.

Abby nodded, and then asked hesitantly, "Can I have the chocolate biscuits with my tea?"

Buffy laughed "Of course you can munchkin. Now scoot. I will be down in fifteen minutes.

Abby nodded and sped off like a rabbit towards the kitchen. After her daughter had exited the room, Buffy turned to Renata and said, "You should come too."

"Bu-but Mrs. Potter!" Renata protested.

"No buts Rannie, Eddie can wait. This will be a good experience for you." Buffy told the Indian teenager.

Renata looked dejectedly at her mentor with a puppy dog pout.

"That look won't work on me. I invented that look. Now go clean up. I expect to see you in the parlor in ten minutes."

"Yes, Mrs. Potter." Renata replied, eyes downcast, still upset about not being able to see her boyfriend.

"Oh, by the way, I told your father that I need you to baby sit tonight." Buffy said with a sly grin.

"What? Is Mr. Potter coming home tonight?" Renata asked with confusion.

"No, but I promised Eddie that I would get the two of you some alone time. Now go get changed." Buffy said with a laugh.

"Thanks, Mrs. Potter. You're the best." Renata shot out as she quickly left the room to get changed.

Buffy still had a thing for star-crossed lovers, having been one her self, and it wasn't that Eddie was a serial killing vampire with a soul, he was just a bright boy who didn't have nearly enough money to satisfy Renata's father, who was the very well-off Ambassador from India. Yes, she had a thing for star-crossed lovers, just as long at it didn't involve Sarah, Robbie or Abby. At least she had a few years before she had to worry about that for her own children. She laughed to herself and went to clean up.

After she has showered and put on fresh clothes, Buffy began to worry about why the Doctor was here. Abby said it was about monsters, but the Doctor didn't say it was about monsters. The last time he came was to investigate a time rift that threatened to destroy the fabric of the universe. Buffy shuddered as she remembered the cause of the rift and the sacrifice made to close it.

_"You're absolutely certain that this is closed?" He asked rather bluntly. She nodded but looked away. The Doctor ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "What exactly caused this rift in the first place?"_

_She shrugged and looked him over. Would he believe the truth? Maybe, he wasn't from around her that was for sure. The two heart beats and the funky looking police box gave it away. She took a deep breath and decided to plow ahead with the truth. "A Hell god was trying to get back into her own dimension." _

_The man(alien? Demon?) laughed. "You are joking" She glared at him and he stopped laughing and looked into her eyes. "You're not joking. So what happened?"_

_"I stopped her, but I was too late to stop the ritual to open the rift. Blood was the only way to stop it, my blood specifically. So I closed it."_

_"If your sacrifice was required to close this rift, why are you still here?" _

_Buffy looked away, sadness overwhelming her, the tears she fought so hard to keep away threatened to reappear. _

_"Oh, I see, someone decided that they would rather see you alive than dead. Rather dark magic, don't you think?"_

_Buffy turned back to him and studied him in surprise. His perceptions were pretty spot on, as Giles would say. "Who are you? Or rather what are you?" She asked pointedly, her eyes narrowing._

_"What do you mean?" He replied._

_"I mean you're definitely not human, you have two heart beats. So what are you, a demon or something else, maybe an alien?" _

_The man looked at her with confusion. "How can you tell that?"_

_"Really good hearing." She quipped. _

_The man pondered his answer for a moment, as if figuring out a puzzle. Then he exclaimed "Aha, I've got it. You're a Slayer. Not the first that I've run into, but definitely one of the older ones."_

_Buffy took offence to his remark about her age "Hey, I'm not that old, I'm only twenty." Then she glared at him. "You're being all avoidy on my question, Mr. Alien." _

_"Touché, Mademoiselle Slayer, you can call me the Doctor. As you have already guessed, I am an alien from the planet Gallifry. As long as we are trading names, what's yours?"_

_"Buffy Summers."_

_"Well Ms. Summers, how would you like to see the universe?"_

_At first, Buffy's eyes widened, eager to jump at the chance to escape this hell on earth. Then, remembering her duty, her shoulders slumped. "Wish I could, but I can't."_

_"Why not?" The Doctor asked. "Your replacement should be more than capable of picking up the slack."_

_Buffy let out a harsh laugh. "Hah, kind of hard to that from prison. Plus, who would look after my little sister?"_

_The Doctor shrugged. "Alright, worth a shot." He turned to leave._

_"Wait!"Buffy cried out._

_The Doctor stopped and turned toward her. "You change your mind?"_

_"No, I just want to see your space ship."_

She just wanted to see his space ship, the Doctor remembered. Her faced lit up at the wonder of it all and actually brought a smile to her eyes. But it passed quickly. He now sat here in her drawing room, watching Rose interact with her children. Her children, that was unexpected. He didn't know why the TARDIS brought him to this future; still he was impressed by her thorough escape from the mouth of Hell. The children are just part of that story. His thoughts were interrupted by a question from her youngest child.

"Can we see your space ship?"

The Doctor looked up, startled, like mother, like daughter. He had to hide his amusement as her remark earned a poke from her brother and a hissed "Abby" reprove from her sister. Rose sent him a puzzled look. They weren't supposed to be able to see the TARDIS land, so the Doctor turned to the girl and asked her "What makes you think we have a space ship?"

The answer came from the top of the stairs. "Because they probably saw you landing in it."

Rose looked up to where the answer came from and saw a small woman with light blond hair and a yellow sun dress to match her youngest daughter's, descending the staircase. This was the Doctor's Warrior Woman? She looked as if a strong wind would blow her away. Maybe there were hidden depths but Rose highly doubted it. Behind her was an Indian girl, a few years younger than herself, dressed in a red sari and looking every bit of an Indian Princess. Royalty was more of what she was expecting this house, not some American woman. Rose looked back at the Doctor to question him but he shook his head to as if to indicate that she should wait to see how this all will play out. Still, Rose blurted out, "You're the monster expert?"

Conversation stopped, but the woman laughed, "Of course I'm the monster expert, didn't the Doctor tell you?"

Rose still looked doubtful, but the woman ignored her, instead she looked back to catch what the Indian girl was whispering in her ear. Her smile broadened as both women alit from the stairs and made their way into the drawing room. "So, introductions are in order, I guess?" The woman, Buffy, asked.

Rose though, blurted out a question that had been nagging her since she arrived in this house. "How is it that you are in Lord Day's house?"

Buffy frowned, "'cause it's not his house anymore. He gave it to Harry and me as a wedding gift. So where were we? Oh yes, introductions. I see you met my three pint size bundles of joy, Sarah, Robert and Abigail." As she spoke their names, each child gave a little bow and a wave. "I am, of course, Buffy Summers-Potter and the girl next to me is my student, Renata Sonjab. Now that you know who all of us are, who are you?"

"I'm Rose Tyler and this is the Doctor." Rose replied.

Buffy ignored her though and instead studied the Doctor intently. After looking him over, she declared "You look different. Are you the same Doctor I met before?"

Rose turned to the Doctor and glared, "You could have told me that you met her before."

"I did tell you."The Doctor reminded her. He turned his attention back to Buffy. "Yes, I am the same Doctor. There is not two of me." There was a hint of sadness in his voice as he delivered that last bit.

Buffy looked him over again and shrugged. "I would ask you for proof, but your two heartbeats kind of give you away. I never met anyone else with two heartbeats that looked so human." The girl, Renata, nodded in agreement, as if she could also tell that the Doctor had two heartbeats, while the children looked on in awe, not knowing that anyone could have more than one heart.

"You seem to be doing alright. Three children, how did you ever manage that?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh the usual way: with my husband." Buffy answered casually, bringing a giggle to the children and Renata. The Doctor though just glared, apparently not amused with her answer.

"You know what I mean."

Buffy shook her head. "No, I don't know what you mean. And you're not going to spell it out either." There was finality to those words and in the tone of her voice. This was not a topic open for discussion. Rose suspected a story, but a look into Buffy's eyes scared her off. Something about this woman set Rose on edge.

The children had finished with their tea and biscuits and were starting to get antsy. The eldest, Sarah, looked at her mother and asked. "Can we go now, Mum?"

"You can't be done with your tea and biscuits already, I just down here." She exclaimed.

The girl looked at her two siblings, who seemed to silently communicate something to her, and then looked back at her Mum. Her eyes pleading with her mother. "I know, Mum. But that's because you took ages to come down."

"Oh, alright, go on then."Buffy said relenting.

The children grinned at each other and then sped out of the room.

"And no running!" She called out after them. She then turned to Renata, "You should go look after them."

Renata protested, "But Mrs. Potter, today wasn't supposed to be my…"

The Doctor cut her off. "Let her stay. I'm sure your children will be fine on their own."

Buffy glared at him. "Fine, but if they get into trouble it's your fault."


	4. Chapter 4

What's Behind Door Number 1?

Sarah checked to make sure the coast was clear. Once she was assured that her Mum and the other adults were otherwise occupied, she signaled to siblings to follow her. Robbie and Abby rushed quickly and quietly to follow Sarah out of the house. Together they stood in front of the Police Box that they saw the Doctor arrive in. The two younger children looked up to Sarah to see what they should do next. "Do you think it's locked?" Robbie asked Sarah.

"Dunno. Haven't tried to open it yet." She told Robbie. She first pushed inwards on the door but it refused to budge. Next, she tried pulling on the handle but had the same result.

Abby pouted in disappointment. "It's locked. Now we will never get to see the space ship."

Robbie put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. "It's alright Abs, couldn't have been much to look at anyways. See how small it is? Not much bigger than that American space ship we saw at the museum earlier this summer in America."

Sarah rounded on her younger siblings. "Show a little faith here, my brother and sister. I am sure I can get into this spaceship."

Robbie looked at her with skepticism. "How are you planning to do that? Break the door down like Mum would?"

Sarah snorted, "No, I'm not going to break the door down. I'll just use a little magic." She reached up to the top of her head and removed the stick that was holding her hair in place. Her auburn hair fell into her face. She brushed it away and presented her stick to her siblings. "See I have my wand."

Robbie looked at her like she was nuts. "What are you planning to do with that? You don't know any spells."

"Do so. Aunt Hermione lent me one of her old spell books. I've been studying for weeks." Sarah replied proudly.

Robbie still looked at her skeptically but Abby just looked anxious. She looked up to Sarah and asked, "Are we gonna to get in to the spaceship?"

Sarah nodded determinedly, "We're going to get in." She studied the door, and then pointing her wand at it, whispered, "Alohomora."

Sarah heard a click, smiled and pushed the door open. "Alright, let's check out this spaceship." Sarah led, the other two followed. Inside, all three were speechless. It was so much bigger than they imagined it. Although it wasn't that the fact that it was bigger on the inside than the outside, after all, their father had taken them to other places bigger inside than out, it was the complexity of the place. All of the computers, knobs, gadgets and the huge console in the middle of the ship gave Sarah and Robbie pause as they stared in wonder at the inside of the Doctor's spaceship. Robbie nudged her out of her revere. "How do you think it goes? I don't see any rockets."

"Dunno. Never seen anything like this before. Well, we better collect Abby and make our way back inside the house." Sarah replied, satisfied now that she had seen the inside of the Doctor's spaceship. She was curious to see what else was in the ship but she also knew if Mum caught them outside the house and in the spaceship they would be grounded for a month. Robbie seemed to be of the same mind for once and they both started to head back. But when they reached the door, Sarah stopped. Abby wasn't with them. "Where's Abby?

Robbie looked around, "She was here a second ago." They both then looked at each other and then groaned. They knew now where Abby went: she went 'sploring'. Robbie remembered the time Daddy took them to Grimmauld Place to show them one of the places of his childhood and Abby went missing for the whole day. They found her in the attic, petting the hippogriff that still lived there. Daddy nearly went spare when he found her. Of course he blamed Robbie and Sarah for letting her get away. Though they both knew it was impossible to keep track of Abby when she decided to go 'sploring'. Robbie was the first to speak, "Well we better go find her. We'll be in loads more trouble if we lose her."

Sarah was remembering the same situation as Robbie and on his suggestion, she didn't hesitate to agree. "Together, then?"

Robbie nodded, "Yeah I reckon that makes the most sense. No need for all of us to get lost. How do you reckon we'll find her?"

Sarah fidgeted nervously, "Um, magic?"

Robbie looked at her again skeptically. "Do you really know that much magic?"

Sarah's shoulders slumped, "No. So are you ready to plunge right in then?

"Yeah, I guess so." Robbie replied.

"Together?" Sarah asked again.

Robbie nodded and together plunged deep into the Doctor's spaceship in search of their little sister. But they were altogether unprepared for the changing nature of the TARDIS.

Buffy sipped her tea and eyed the Doctor and Rose warily. Why did he come back? Surely not to haunt her. She was ok now, no better than ok. Harry and her three children provided her with more than enough joy and happiness to make life in this world livable. He wasn't her to snatch that away, was he? Could he even do that? So she broached the question to him. "Why are you here? Obviously not a social visit, since you were so willing to let my children run off." And then added in a small voice, "You can't change things, can you?"

Renata was puzzled and a bit angry. Who was this stranger with his two heartbeats? Why did he worry and upset her mentor and hero? She blustered out a warning, "You be careful here, mister." This got her a glare from the girl, Rose, a look of surprised from the Doctor but a quiet thank you and a pat on the hand from Buffy that made her relax a bit.

"Quite an inspiration you are." The Doctor remarked to Buffy, admiring Renata's tenacity and willingness to stand up for her mentor.

Buffy shrugged. "You wanted her to stay."

The Doctor looked again at Renata and then back at Buffy, clearly puzzled. Then after a moment he solved the puzzle in his mind. "Did you die again?"

Rose startled at that statement, looked at Buffy and then back at the Doctor.

Buffy, though, shook her head. "It doesn't work like that anymore."

Rose now, was ever more confused. "What did he mean when he asked you if you died again? And what doesn't work like that anymore?" Not getting an answer from Buffy or Renata who sat drinking their tea, she turned to the Doctor. "Doctor, what is she talking about?"

The Doctor just sat there looking between Buffy and Renata, took a sip of his tea and then addressed Buffy, "When one dies another is called. That's the way it works, isn't it?"

Buffy let a smirk cross her lips, "If that's the case, I must have died while I was becoming pregnant with Abigail. I should tell Harry about that or maybe not, don't want to give him too big of a head."

Renata couldn't help herself and let out a giggle. She didn't know why her mentor was teasing the strange man in front of them.

Buffy noticed the glare from the Doctor and the continued confusion on Rose and took pity on them. "It used to be one girl in all the world but then I needed to change that. Now any girl who has the potential is called as soon as she reaches puberty. Enough about me, so again I ask, why are you here?"

Rose, frustrated by this odd game of chess going on between Buffy and the Doctor blurted out, "We're trying to figure out how to kill a monster. The Doctor says that you're some sort of an expert on these things."

Relief flooded across Buffy's face, "Monsters, huh. While why didn't you say so in the first place? After all I am an expert on these things; I've killed enough of them in my lifetime."

Rose still looked skeptical. She looked over Buffy again and shook her head. "Come on now. Quit pulling my leg. First the Doctor and now you, I'm supposed to believe that you are some sort of mystical warrior? Sitting here in this posh house, dressed for a summer tea, with your picture perfect children and your fencing student?"

Buffy did something unexpected, she laughed.

Rose frowned, "Why are you laughing?" She demanded.

"Because the way you put it makes this all seem so normal. I sometimes have to pinch myself every now and then just to make sure that this isn't some bizzaro world or even some drug induced illusion." She sobered and sighed, "I guess I'll just have to prove it to you." She turned to Renata and said, "Go stand at the other end of the room and throw your knife at me."

Renata looked at her mentor with eyes wide as saucers, protesting, "But Mrs. Potter…"

But Buffy cut her off, "Go on. You know you want to. It's the only way to convince Rosie here."

Rose protested at the diminutive but Buffy shrugged her off and focused instead on Renata. Renata nodded and walked over to the other end of the room. She then pulled a rather large knife from the folds of her sari. Rose gasped at the size and apparent sharpness of the knife. "Doctor, stop this madness."

But the Doctor just shook his head, "No, just watch. It won't hurt her."

Rose frowned but said nothing. Renata stood at the edge of the room waiting for some sort of a signal or sign from Mrs. Potter. "Alright, Mrs. Potter?"

"Don't ask, just throw, Renata." Buffy replied. She sat in her chair not looking at the girl but straight at Rose. A whooshing sound indicated that the knife was thrown. Rose could make out a blur heading straight towards Buffy's head and gasped. But Buffy pulled the knife down without even looking away from Rose. She smirked and asked Rose, "Is that proof enough? Or do you need me to bend the fire poker?"

Rose sat there dumbfounded. She didn't know what to believe right now, what she saw was unbelievable, but she saw the unbelievable everyday with the Doctor. She glanced over at the Doctor who was grinning at her like the cat who ate the canary, so no help there. He already believed her story. So she nodded, accepting for now, holding out in her mind for some better explanation.

Buffy turned her attention back to the Doctor and said, "Now that we've gone through the dog and pony show, let's get back to the matter at hand. So, monster: what kind is it?

Buffy had led them to the library and stopped. She reached over to a book on the shelf on the left wall and pulled it out. A stack of books slid to the side revealing a new room with even older books mixed in with several computers. In the center was a large circular table with several chairs placed around it. On the wall to their left was a bust of William Shakespeare. She walked up to the bust and placed her hand on it, murmuring quietly, "Scooby Doobie Doo, Where are you?" She then stepped back and an invisible barrier fell, allowing access to the room. She turned back to at the curious faces of Rose and the Doctor, "Just a little something to keep the Forbidden Knowledge out of the hands of the kids."

"And you use a song from a cartoon I used watch on the telly as a little girl?" Rose asked cheekily.

"Why yes, yes I do. It's kind of an in-joke with my friends." Buffy replied with a smile.

Rose stared at the wonderment of the space being larger than it appeared on the other side of the barrier. She gave the Doctor a look of disbelief. Buffy noticed this and said smugly, "You're not the only one who has something bigger on the inside than the outside. Instead of science, Harry uses magic."

Renata looked at her mentor, puzzled by her statement. She was used to this room being bigger than it appeared as well the house having a mind of its own. Buffy noticed her puzzlement but didn't feel the need to explain. It was her own private joke with the Doctor, a gentle reminder of the time when he showed her his TARDIS.

Rose looked around the space and was amazed by the stacks of books. "Have you read all of these books?"

Buffy laughed, "Me? No I personally haven't read all of these books. I'm more of an action girl than a research girl."

"Then why all the books?"

"It was decided when we reorganized the Council that we would spread out the knowledge. So we have copies of what's in the main office in London, Cleveland, LA, and Tokyo and of course, here. Harry, that's my husband, decided to add a few volumes of his own and it just sorta of grew."

"But what makes this place so important?" Rose questioned further.

"Because I'm here. More often than not, research parties ended up here rather than at Headquarters." Buffy explained.

"It's not just books that we have here." Renata added, wanted to impress her mentor with her knowledge. "We also have a huge database of monsters." She led them to one of the computers scattered around the room."

Rose just stared at the two women, confused by the talk of monsters, computers, books and councils. She turned to the Doctor for an explanation.

"Right, she must be talking about the Council of Watchers, sort of a Torchwood for the underworld. Where there are slayers there are usually watchers. Speaking of watchers, I don't see yours anywhere around here."

Buffy shrugged, "Don't really need one anymore since I kind of run the show now. Now just give Renata the information on your demon and let's see what we come up with."

Rose gave a detailed description of the monster that she saw to Renata, who typed in the information. They waited for a minute or two in silence and then the computer beeped, indicating a match. Renata pulled up the information and then printed it out for her mentor and their guests to examine. She thought it strange that they should run into this demon as it was rather obscure and kept to the shadows.

Buffy heard the ping of the printer and reached over and grabbed the piece of paper that emerged from it. "Here's your monster information now." She glanced over the paper, frowned and handed it over to Rose. "That's your monster, right?"

Rose studied the paper, nodding. "Yeah, that's the monster all right. Wait, it says here that it can only be killed by a twice blessed sword. Where the devil are we going to find a twice blessed sword?"

Buffy smiled. "I happen to have one of those here. The bigger question is what is this demon doing on that planet? There is no way that that species would leave Earth."

The Doctor frowned, "Normally that would be correct. However, in the 51st Century, a group of illegal time travelers went back to Earth and retrieved several pairs to put in a zoo on Aplactex. Now, of course the pairs have turned on their captors and have returned to form as indicated by your information."

"You mean that they have taken over the planet and have become the demon overlords." Buffy replied.

Renata gasped. If the demons have returned to form, then the only way to truly defeat them would be with a blood pact. She wondered if her mentor realized that. Studying her from her position in front of the screen, she realizes that she does but is not telling the Doctor or perhaps her companion.

Buffy then turned to the Doctor, with a smirk, "Looks like I get to travel in spaceship after all."

Rose protested, "What are you talking about? Surely you're not coming with us."

"Can you wield a sword? I figure the Doctor can, but can you?" Buffy asked her.

Rose shrugged, "Yeah, but not with a lot of skill."

"Good, then it's settled. It's my sword and the only way I can make sure I get it back is to come along with you. I mean that was the purpose of your visit, right? And so again I say, looks like I get to travel in you spaceship after all."

"It's not a spaceship, it's a TARDIS." The Doctor exclaimed with exasperation.

"Does it travel through space?" Buffy asked,

"Well yes, but it is so much more." The Doctor replied.

"Then it's a spaceship in my book." Buffy replied with a smirk as she had the last word on the subject.


	5. Chapter 5

**Fox Trot**

_What's that Fox doing in my Car? "What's that fox doing in my car?" "Why the fox trot of course."_

From "How can you be in two places at once" by Firesign Theater

Sarah plopped down on a bench in the Cloister, Robbie and Abby sitting down next to her. She sighed in frustration, "We are never going to get out of here. We've been running around in circles for ten minutes now."

Abby put a reassuring hand on her leg, "Don't worry Sarah, Mummy will find us. She can always find us."

Robbie gave his baby sister a look, "Well, we wouldn't be lost on this spaceship if you hadn't run off 'splorin'."

"And Mum doesn't even know that we're gone, since we snuck out of the house."Sarah added.

Abby started to pout, "But Mummy will find us, she's a superhero."

Sarah snorted, "Yeah, Mummy will find us and then she'll ground us until we're fifty."

Abby started to cry, she didn't mean to get them lost, but the temptation of exploring the strange man's spaceship was too much for her to ignore. She always sought out new places to explore, to see what's out there. It was like a second nature to her.

Robbie though had a different train of though and suddenly remembered something, "Daddy's stories!" He exclaimed. His sisters turned to stare at him in confusion. "Remember when Daddy was telling us about his adventures in the Tri-wizard thingy?"

Abby shook her head, having not been old enough to hear this story yet, but Sarah's eyes widened in remembrance. "The Point-me spell!" she exclaimed.

Robbie nodded, "Right, I reckon you could do that spell and get us out of here."

Sarah frowned; she hadn't really studied that particular spell. "Do you reckon it will work?"

Robbie shrugged, "Dunno, but it has to be worth a try. Anything is better than being found out by Mum."

Sarah agreed, drew her breath, held out her wand and uttered "Point me." The wand spun around a few times and then pointed to the right. Sarah smiled, it worked. "Come on you lot, follow me." So the two siblings followed her as they made their way through the twists and turns of the labyrinth that was the TARDIS, though at the end of a half of an hour they were no closer to getting out that when they started.

"I think we passed this way before." Robbie said as they entered a familiar courtyard.

Sarah stopped, looked around and let out a strangled cry. "Arg. This is the same courtyard we passed ten minutes ago. Stupid wand, can't even work right." She made to start to snap it in her frustration when Robbie grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Don't." He cried.

Sarah stopped, looked at him holding her arm, "What?"

"Don't snap your wand. What if it's not the magic that's wonky but the machine?" He replied.

She let down her hand in resignation, realizing that he was probably right. She had done the spell correctly; it seemed to work at first. It was just seemed that the spaceship kept changing the direction that they were travelling. She refastened her wand in her hair and then placing a hand on her hip, she looked at him, "Who are you and what have you done with my clueless little brother?"

He laughed, "I've been here all along."

Sarah then started laughing too, at the absurdity of the situation, at her dopey statement and being here, lost inside this crazy spaceship.

Abby looked at her brother and sister as if they had gone spare, "What are you laughing about?" Not getting an answer from either sib, she pouted and then whined, "I'm hungry."

Her older siblings stopped laughing and turned now to their younger sister. Sarah let out a heavy, put upon sigh, "How can you be hungry? You just stuffed yourself with biscuits at tea not more than a half hour ago!"

"Yeah, but all this 'splorin makes me hungry." Abby answered in a whine, giving her sister a pouty puppy dog look.

Robbie tapped Sarah on the shoulder. She rounded on him, "What?"

"I've got a few biscuits in my pocket." He replied.

Both girls now gave him their full attention. Somewhat taken aback, he took a few steps back.

"How did you end up with biscuits?"Sarah asked him.

"I swiped a few from the table before we left the parlor. And I stuffed them in my pockets of my trousers." Robbie explained to his sisters.

Abby reached out with her greedy little hands for the biscuits whilst Sarah watched and stewed, wondering not for first time about not being allowed to wear trousers to tea because she was a girl. She eventually gave in a grabbed one of the biscuits from Robbie and started eating it silence. Suddenly, while they were busy munching on their biscuits, they were lurched forward by a movement of the ship. Both Robbie and Abby, biscuits forgotten, clutched hard at Sarah for safety, causing her to stumble a bit.

"What was that?"Robbie asked her shakily.

"Dunno, but I think we're moving." Sarah replied.

"Moving? How? Where?" Robbie asked, panicking a bit. He remembered reading about spaceships and the first thing to cross his mind was, "Will we be floating around in the cabin like in those American spaceships? Are we going to start losing air?"

Abby picking up on the panic in her brother's voice started to cry. Robbie, giving up on his curiosity and giving in to his panic began to cry too, both clutching to Sarah quite hard now. Sarah, too, no longer able to pretend to be brave, remembering that she was still just a little girl, collapsed onto the floor in a crying heap. She forgot that her brother and sister were still clinging to her, thus dragging her siblings down with her, all crying together, lost in a strange spaceship, going into the unknown.

Rose watched as Buffy hid several small daggers within the folds of her blouse and another in the heel of her boot. "Isn't that a bit much? I mean I thought only a twice blessed sword can kill this monster?"

Buffy, having finished hiding the extra daggers on her person, turned to Rose answering "Yep, that's why all these daggers are twice blessed."

"Still, isn't that a bit of overkill if you only really need the sword?"

Buffy shook her head, "Nope, in my opinion, there is no such thing overkill: just kill. Besides if I get disarmed or something happens to the sword, then I have back up." She paused in her speech and studied Rose for a bit. "Did you want a weapon too? I have a few more twice blessed blades."

Rose pondered this for a second then nodded, "Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a weapon."

Buffy bent over the weapons chest, pulled out a short sword and handed it to Rose. "You do know how to use one of these things, don't you?"

Rose accepted the sword and nodded. "I've had to use one in a pinch."

"Good, that makes two of us." Buffy closed the weapons chest and followed Rose back to where the Doctor and Renata were waiting.

The Doctor and Renata were waiting impatiently for Buffy and Rose to return, each for different reasons. The Doctor was fiddling with an old watch on a fob, anxious to return to the planet he deserted to find Buffy. Renata busied herself by straightening things around the parlor, anxious for her mentor to allow her to go along on this new adventure. The Doctor's face lit up when he saw Rose entering the room with Buffy trailing behind her. "All set then?" He asked Buffy.

"Yup, all set. Let's go." She replied.

Renata's face lit up. She was finally going to get a chance for a new adventure, to fight alongside her mentor and hero. She moved forward to follow, but Buffy held up a hand to stop her. "I'm sorry Renata; you can't come with us this time."

Renata protested, "Why not? I've been training my whole life for this moment."

Buffy shook her head, "First, you haven't been training you life, only two years. And second, who would watch over my children?"

Renata's shoulders slumped. She knew Mrs. Potter was right, but still she pleaded, "But Mrs. Potter, I know I can do this."

Buffy placed her hand gently on her cheek. "I know dear, but you are young and a slayer and there will be other times and other adventures."

Renata sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Good girl. Now make sure Abby and Robbie have their bath before Mr. Potter comes home. Hopefully I should be back before then." She paused and glanced over at the Doctor.

"Right, back before you know it." He interjected.

She nodded and turned back to Renata, "And try to make sure that the children don't kill each other while I'm gone."

Renata let out a giggle and nodded. "Alright, Mrs. Potter. Good luck and good hunting." She turned to go but stopped and pressed a quill into Buffy's hand. She whispered, "Just in case you need to make that treaty."

Buffy nodded and watched the girl return to the house. She then turned and followed the Doctor and Rose through her front lawn and towards the Doctor's spaceship, which was of course, a blue police box. The trio stopped in front of the box, the door slightly ajar.

The Doctor turned to Rose, "I thought you locked up when we left the TARDIS?"

Rose frowned, doubt clouding her face, "I did lock up. I could have sworn that I locked up. Maybe not, it was raining rather hard when we left the TARDIS. Perhaps I did forget."

The Doctor scowled but did not comment. He quickly stepped inside, with Rose and Buffy trailing right behind him. Rose glanced back to see if Buffy had a reaction to the interior of the TARDIS, but found her stoic. "Aren't you going to comment on the TARDIS?" She asked Buffy.

Buffy shrugged, "I have seen it before, though I am still impressed by it." She didn't want to show how truly excited she really was. She was getting a second chance on something she passed up earlier in her life. Thank goodness for built in baby sitters. She was still just taking in the sight of all again when the Doctor indicated that she should hold on as he went over to the console and started up the TARDIS. She was unprepared as the TARDIS moved and she stumbled a bit. The noise it made was so loud that she almost didn't hear the crying in the distant interior of the TARDIS. She would know those cries anywhere, those were the cries of her children. Children who were supposed to be back on Earth, safely ensconsed in the house. Buffy turned to the Doctor, anger and betrayal in her eyes, "I trusted you. But you lied to me."

The Doctor looked at her incredously, "Lied? I didn't lie to you. I said I needed your help and you accepted. Where's the lie? I've been perfectly honest with you."

"You stole my children from me!" She sputtered out angrily.

"I did no such thing. Your children are at home where you left them. I don't have any need of them. I only wanted you."

Buffy frowned; she couldn't detect any dishonesty in his words or his posture. He seemed utterly confused by her accusation. But her children were here, on board his TARDIS. Those were their cries that she heard. She would recognize the sound of their voices anywhere. The more she pondered it; she realized that it was her own fears run away with her. The fear that this life she was now leading was some sort of drug induced delusion. The other fear that her children would die before her. This fear became evident earlier this summer when Sarah was kidnapped. She always knew in the back of her mind that her children would be vulnerable to her enemies and Harry's too. But she also knew meeting Harry was one of the best damn things to happen in her life. If he hadn't showed up on that fateful night in Sunnydale almost twelve years ago… Buffy took several deep breaths to calm herself. After a few moments, she got her fears were under control. The Doctor wasn't here to snatch her husband, her children or her life as it is now. No, now that she thought about it, her children were probably just being overly curious and got caught up in his spaceship. She closed her eyes to concentrate on the sounds of her children's cries. Having located the source, she opened her eyes and gave out an apology to Rose and the Doctor. "Sorry. I let my fears get the best of me. I believe I have solved the mystery of your unlocked door. I think you have some stowaways on board." Then she took off like a flash leaving the Doctor and Rose in a confused wake behind her.

"What do you reckon just happened here?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"A misunderstanding, I believe." The Doctor replied, pensively.

"Yours or hers?" Rose asked seeking clarification.

"Hers, if I understand it correctly."

Rose nodded, not really seeing any deception on behalf of the Doctor. "So stowaways, who are they?

"That would probably be her children. They were the reason the door was opened when we returned to the TARDIS. The question is how the devil did they get the door open when we are certain it was locked when we left it?"


	6. Chapter 6

I'm on another Planet with You

They came upon Buffy surrounded by her tearful children. The Doctor could hear her admonish and sooth them at the same time. "It's alright now, dears, Mummy is here. Though, why you are on this spaceship is a mystery to me. You should be at home with Renata. Imagine my surprise when I heard your cries when I entered this ship."

"But Mum, we didn't mean to be on the stranger's spaceship. We were on our way out when Robbie and I noticed that Abby was missing. She had gone 'splorin' so we had to try and find her and then when we found her we couldn't find our way back and then we got lost and then…" Her sentence was left unfinished as she broke down in tears again. Buffy rubbed her back to settle her down. When she had finally soothed her children, stopping their tears and cries, she did something that shocked both the Doctor and Rose: she pulled out a small dagger from her hair and handed it to her eldest child. From the look on the girl's face, it was a surprise to her too.

"You know how to use this and I can't be here to watch over you when we land. I need you to protect your brother and sister."

"But mum…" the girl protested.

Buffy cut her off with a finger to her daughter's lips, "Hush, I know you can do this. Chances are you won't have to use it. The monsters shouldn't come anywhere near you as you should be safe and sound on this ship, which, by the way, you will be staying put on until we get back home, and then of course the three of you will be grounded forever. But just in case I know I will feel better knowing you had some means of protecting yourself."

The eldest daughter protested, "But Mum, we're already protected." At that declaration, she reached up to the top of her head and pulled out a small thin stick. Her mother quickly snatched the stick from her.

She considered it for a moment and then handed it back to her daughter asking, "How are you planning on doing that? You haven't learned any magic yet. You have yet to start school."

"But Mum, I've studied all of Aunt Hermione's old books and I know loads of spells now, even the one Daddy and Uncle Ron used to kill that troll when they were my age." Sarah protested.

Buffy raised an eyebrow and smiled at her daughter. "My, aren't you the clever little witch. I bet that's how you stowed away in the first place." Sarah blushed at the words, but Rose cringed in horror. Who would call their own daughter a witch?

"But Mum, we weren't stowing away. Honest. We were just exploring and we go lost and the ship took off and we got scared and that's how we ended up here." Sarah protested again to her Mum.

Buffy looked up from her embrace of her children and noticed Rose's expression on her face. "Something wrong, Rose?"

"Yes, you called your daughter a witch!" Rose pointed out.

"Yes I did, but it's not the insult you think it is. My husband's family belongs to this whole separate and secret society of magic. In that society, witch and wizard are normal appellations for women and men. In fact, I could get in trouble just telling you about their secret society."

Sarah gave her mother an incredulous look after she used the word appellation. "Mummy, you used that word correctly!"

Buffy raised an eyebrow, "And how would you know that, my clever little witch?" The young girl blushed again at her mother's praises. Buffy sighed, "Your Auntie Hermione's books again, right?"

"Yeah and Auntie Willow's, Auntie Dawn's and Grandpa Giles' and…"

Her mother stopped her, a smile twitching on her lips, "I get the picture, but just so you don't get confused in the future, blonde doesn't mean dumb."

The Doctor cleared his throat, "Ah ladies, if we are through establishing your mother's intellectual capacity, I really could use her brute strength. It seems one of the capacitors is stuck." Mother and daughter both blushed at admonishment while the two younger children looked up at their mother in confusion.

"Mummy, "Robbie asked, "What did he just say?"

Buffy smiled and mussed his hair, "He just wanted to remind me that I need to kill his monster with my sword and not just talk it to death."

Surprisingly enough, the Doctor was able to the settle the children down with a coloring book for Abigail and a couple of books for Robbie and Sarah. Rose looked at the Doctor in wonder when he pulled out the coloring book for Abigail.

"What? Did you think that these are the only children to have been on the TARDIS? Though I have to admit it has been a rather long time." The Doctor explained to Rose, though the far away expression on his face gave Rose pause and made her decide not to follow up on her thought. The TARDIS indicated that they were finally on the planet and The Doctor, Rose and Buffy, her children now settled, exited the TARDIS onto the planet surface.

On the surface of the planet, Rose turned to Buffy and asked, "So where do you reckon these demons are now?"

Buffy shrugged and examined the sky in awe, it was a pinkish color rather than blue, "No idea, I've never been here before. I've never even left Earth before. Although if this species still runs true to form and haven't changed their habits too much over the ensuing centuries, then I would guess City Hall or whatever passes for a capital city on this planet."

Rose looked at her incredulously, "Why would you think that?"

"They like to be in charge. Plus they tend to do the whole master-slave thing with a vengeance and a whole lot of violence mixed in."

"I don't think they've gotten that far. We only left a few minutes ago- relatively speaking of course." The Doctor supplied.

Buffy looked at the Doctor in confusion and said, "Huh?"

"Oh right- TARDIS- time and relative dimension in space. It's a time machine as well as a spaceship. So you see there hasn't been enough time for them to take over." The Doctor explained.

Rose turned to Buffy with a knowing look and said, "Right, then. City Hall it is." And proceeded to lead Buffy towards what seemed to be the center of town. They didn't get too far when they came across a man being beaten by one of the demons. They watched in horror as the demon took out a whip and starting lashing the man. The demon heard their gasp and looked up, noticing his audience, said, "What are you slaves standing around here for? Get back to work before I whip you too."

Buffy shook her head and stepped towards the demon, "Not one of your slaves. Never will be one of your slaves." The monster turned his whip towards her and lashed out at her. She caught the whip and pulled it from him. The monster grew angry and charged her. They exchanged blows while the Doctor and Rose watched.

Rose turned to the Doctor, pleading, "Help her. Isn't that what you do?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, just wait and watch."

Rose huffed and made a move to help Buffy. She thought the Doctor was being cruel. But the Doctor held her back. "Why did you stop me? It's obvious she needs help."

The Doctor shook his head again, "I'm sure she'll have it under control. She was made for this."

Rose looked back to see what was happening. She couldn't see Buffy at all, but she saw the demon refocusing his attention back on the man. Rose started to worry now. She didn't know Buffy very long but she seemed to grow on her with her cocky attitude and her mischievous children. She would hate to have to tell her children that their mother was dead. A loud whistle then pierced the air making everyone turn their heads. Then suddenly, Buffy appeared right next to the monster wielding her sword for the first time. The demon turned to strike at her but was too slow. She promptly removed his head from his shoulders.

"Heads up," She quipped. "Oops, you just lost yours."

Rose was taken aback at first. Here was a woman who committed an extreme act of violence in cutting off the monster's head and now she was joking about it. Rose then remembered the Doctor's odd sense of humor and rolled her eyes. Leave it to the Doctor to find a similar soul who found humor in odd situations. She carefully watched Buffy as she went over to the man who was attacked and helped him to his feet. He was bleeding profusely from his arm where the demon's whip had slashed it open. Rose moved to help Buffy as she tore off some her shirt and wrapped it around the wound as a makeshift bandage to stop the worst of the bleeding.

The grateful man looked down on Buffy, whom he was leaning on, and asked, "Are you the one who has come to save us. The one that has been written about by the old ones?" He took a closer look at Buffy to compare her to some image in his mind.

Buffy shrugged, "Maybe, but only from the monster. Everything else you're on your own."

The man looked at her in confusion, "Did you not slay the beast when none other could?"

Buffy sighed, "I just had the right weapon. It's what happens when you take things that don't belong."The man still looked confused. "I just killed the demon. I'm just doing this for a friend. It's not like I'm some mystical warrior chosen to slay the – oh wait, I am." She sent a glare back to the Doctor. "So tell me about your prophesy."

He shook his head, "You are not the one. The books describe the warrior as one whose hair is like the sun."

Now Buffy looked confused, "I thought my hair was like the sun, yellow right?"

The Doctor nudged her, "Look up."

"Oh, right. Their sun."Then after a beat. "Hey, this better not be about my daughter. She's only eleven. Much too young for this prophecy thing."

The Doctor reassured her, "No, I rather doubt that. I believe the books describe a warrior with hair the color of the sun and those books were written before humans migrated off of Earth. Your daughter is hardly a warrior."

Mollified, Buffy turned back to the man she had saved. "Can you tell us how to get to the capital city or wherever the demons seem to be congregating?"

"Yes, just use the Tubes. It will get you to the Capital in a few minutes. That is where the leader of these monsters had holed himself up. I'll take you there now." He led them through the streets of the alien city to the Tube station, all the while stealing glances back at Buffy.

Meanwhile, Rose turned to the Doctor and asked, "Why don't we take the TARDIS closer in?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair and drawled, "Well, I'd rather not put our stowaways in any more danger than they already in."

"What makes you think that they'll be in danger? They are in the TARDIS, right?" Rose questioned.

The Doctor and Buffy both smiled, though the Doctor was the one replied. "They're her brood. Not only are they rather excitable, but they also very curious. You do remember how they stowed away in the first place?"

Rose nodded and agreed silently with the Doctor. Minutes later they all reached the transport tube to the planetary capital. They agreed that Buffy should go first, to take care of any problems that might be waiting on the other end. After Buffy went through the tube, the man that they had rescued turned to the Doctor and asked, "Why did you lie to the warrior woman about the prophecies? They are in fact rather recent, a few hundred years old and they refer to a young girl with hair the color of the sun. It is an established fact that the sun is red on this planet."

"I suspect that she would make me take her back home again before she took care of your monster problem, thereby thwarting your prophecy. She might do that anyway, thwart your prophecy that is, or she may be the cause of it. It is very foolish to rely on prophecies when faced with reality." The Doctor explained to the man.

Rose frowned during their exchange; she wondered how an eleven year old girl could defeat a monster like the one Buffy just killed. It didn't make much sense to her. She shook her head, held her tongue and followed the Doctor through the travel tube.

Meanwhile, back on the TARDIS, two of the three stowaways were getting restless. As soon as their mother left their presence, the two younger Potter children stopped their busy work and eyed each other, a silent agreement passing between them. They stood and turned as one towards Sarah and Robbie spoke for the pair (as was usual, Abby would scheme, Robbie would agree then speak) "Sarah, we want to see the alien planet."

Sarah shook her head, "No, absolutely not. Mum told us to stay here and that means we stay here. There are monsters out there. Plus it's an alien planet, who knows if we'll even be able to breath-oh, wait, Mum's out there so I guess we would be able to breathe. Still, Mum told us to stay here, so we are staying here. We're already in so much trouble just being here."

Robbie just nodded. "I know we're in loads of trouble, but how much more trouble can we be in? Come on Sarah, we're on an alien planet! When are we gonna do that again? Besides, we just want to go outside just to say we were on an alien planet. We're not gonna explore the whole planet." He looked warily at his little sister after he said that. Sarah stared at her too.

Abby sighed, "I promise not to go 'splorin. Cross my heart."

Sarah relented, "Oh, alright. But just for a few minutes. We have to back before Mum comes back or we'll be grounded for two lifetimes instead of just one."

Her two siblings cheered while Sarah bit her lip nervously. She usually wasn't overly adventurous but her siblings were right: they were on another planet. When were they going to that again? Though the twins might not believe her, she knew David would. He was like that; he could always tell when she was telling him the truth. She made sure she had her wand and the knife that Mum had given her and led her siblings out onto the alien planet, making sure the door wasn't locked behind them.


End file.
